


The Fortunate Ones

by Nokomis



Category: Batgirl (Comics)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 17:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/600422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokomis/pseuds/Nokomis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie Brown and Courtney Whitmore have a romping superhero team-up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fortunate Ones

**Author's Note:**

  * For [milleniumrex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/milleniumrex/gifts).



The sounds of the scuffle echo up through the alley.

Steph stops on the ledge seven stories above the kerfluffle, taking a second to check out the action and to adjust her cowl. The fight seems to be between… huh. A costumed girl and some thugs that Steph recognizes as belonging to Mr. Freeze.

Steph clicks on her comm, figuring anyone with a JSA membership card could probably handle a few thugs for an extra minute or two. “O?”

“No, I’m not going to let you listen to internet radio through your comm,” Babs replies immediately.

“I still maintain that’s a brilliant use of resources,” Steph says. “But not what I’m curious about. Why’s Stargirl in Gotham?”

“Stargirl?” There’s honest puzzlement in Babs’ voice, and the tiny flicker of jealousy that Steph was trying to suppress went out. Babs hadn’t been keeping her out of some Birds assignment after all. 

“She’s down here on the south side, fighting off some of Freeze’s goons,” Steph says, crouching down on the ledge and peering over. “Doing a great job, though she just took a pretty good punch to the jaw.”

Babs doesn’t bother turning off her speaker; Steph can hear the click-clack of her fingers flying over her keyboards. “No one from the JSA’s given a heads up on action in Gotham, which…”

“Which will get the bossman’s panties in a wad,” Steph sighs. 

“Bingo,” Babs says. “You’d better find out why she’s here.”

“Can do.” Steph drapes her legs over the ledge and hops down to the fire escape. She swings down from level to level, showing off a bit just in case Stargirl happened to look up. No use having her grand entrance be boring. 

Stargirl has managed to subdue most of the thugs, but looks slightly bewildered.

“To the left,” Steph offers helpfully, dropping down off the final landing of the fire escape and gesturing towards the last thug, who somehow thought he was being sneaky by hanging out behind a dumpster.

Stargirl scoops up a brick from the ground and lets it fly. When it makes contact, she leaves the goon to slump down unconsciously against the dumpster. “Thanks.”

“No prob.” Steph didn’t even have to do anything, after all. She crosses her arms over the bat on her chest and says, “So why are you hanging out in this fine upstanding neighborhood?”

Stargirl looks around the alley, which admittedly is pretty dire even by Gotham standards, and snorts. “I wasn’t trying to move into Bat-territory, if that’s the problem. I’m just trying to find something.”

“Something like a brand new bruise? Because you found that,” Steph says, gesturing towards the purple fist-shaped mark that is already developing on Stargirl’s jaw. 

“Not quite,” Stargirl says. She shifts nervously from foot to foot. “I’m not like, in trouble, am I? For being here? I know we’re not supposed to without permission, but I didn’t really want to tell the JSA…”

Steph understands that tone. Steph practically _invented_ that tone, what with all the practice she has with getting her vigilante on in Gotham without Batman’s permission. “Nah, you’re good.”

“So… Last time I was here you said something about a future team-up.” Stargirl brushes something off the side of her red boot. 

“I’m free tonight,” Steph says eagerly, because seriously, she _never_ gets invited for team-ups, even though she is freaking awesome at them. “What are we hunting down?”

Stargirl looks around, like she’s afraid of being overheard. Steph casually moves her hand to make sure that her comm is clicked off. No sense starting off a brand new team-up with betrayal. “I lost my cosmic rod.”

“All this trouble for a vibrator?” The words burst out of Steph before she can help it.

“No!” Stargirl turns an impressive shade of pink. It’s _adorable_. “My staff doohickey.” She waves her arms around, presumably showing Steph how she normally operates her cosmic rod.

If she knew Stargirl better, this would be her cue to wag her eyebrows and say, “Your _doohickey_ , huh?” But she’s already made the girl blush, and Stargirl is clearly unsettled in Gotham, so instead Steph just nods sagely.

“I’m guessing it’s a big deal?”

Stargirl bites her lip. “You could say that. You could also say that it’s a super embarrassing deal. What kind of self-respecting hero loses the thing that links her to the freakin’ cosmos?”

“One time I lost one of my gauntlets in Crime Alley,” Steph offers. “I got a whole lecture on why we don’t take them off in the field, even if you’re about to eat a sticky donut and don’t want to get glaze everywhere.”

Stargirl lets out a surprised burst of laughter. “I am trying to avoid the whole lecture thing. It’s really hard to keep the respect of everyone if they have to keep lecturing me like a newbie.” She pauses. “Though losing the braces helped.”

Steph grins. “So you know who took your rod?”

*

Courtney – she formally introduced herself as they moved slightly uptown, towards the last known lair of Freeze—has already tracked her cosmic rod through a black market auction to Gotham.

“How’d you manage that?” Steph asks. She’s handed her binoculars over, and Courtney is squinting into them, trying to catch a glimpse of her cosmic rod inside. Steph didn’t even suggest just bursting inside upon arrival, which she’s pretty proud of. 

“Kara,” Courtney confesses. “She’d heard about it, and she flew in and took a peek at the records.”

“I’m shocked that they kept records,” Steph says. “Shocked and delighted. Bless the criminal underground and their dependence on keeping their records offline and on paper.”

“My big question,” Courtney says, staring at the abandoned ice cream parlor that Freeze has set up in. “Is, why did Mr. Freeze buy it? It doesn’t freeze anything.”

“He’s a bit of an odd cookie,” Steph says, a bit fondly. “Anything he thinks might revive his lady, he’ll try. Up to and including strange staffs, as it turns out.”

“That’s oddly sweet.” Courtney hands the binoculars back to Steph. “But I’m still getting my damn rod back.”

Steph puts them back into her utility belt, making sure all her pockets are secure before pulling out her zip line. “Let’s roll.”

*

Getting inside of the secret lair was surprisingly easy. The front door was unlocked, though the bell above it jangled loudly as they entered.

Courtney ducks, like she expects Freeze to come out with guns blazing, but Steph just stands on her tippy-toes and stops the bells from continuing to announce their presence. She’s already pretty sure that the place is empty. She’d noticed on other stakeouts that the few times that Freeze has actually been at his hideout, the windows had been suspiciously frosted over.

Everything is quiet, from the red formica booths to the counter where a freezer still buzzes quietly, despite the absence of ice cream.

There’s a distinct chill in the air, though, and Steph’s breath puffs out visibly in front of her. She glances over and Courtney’s got her arms wrapped around her bare midriff, gooseflesh visible on her exposed skin.

“Let’s check in back real quick,” Steph suggests. She doesn’t like the feel of the building, even if it’s abandoned. 

Courtney nods and leads the way, heading behind the counter to check the back rooms. Steph is surprised when they get back there; it’s far more spacious than the front hinted at, and there’s no doubt that Freeze has been using this as a hideout. There are cryogenic tanks everywhere, and equipment that Steph only has the vaguest idea of what the function of it might be.

Courtney’s gold rod should stand out like a beacon amidst all the stainless steel and glass, but Steph doesn’t spot anything, and from the disappointed slump of Courtney’s shoulders, neither does she.

“I guess this was a dead end,” Courtney sighs. She leans up against one of the counters, despite the fact that she’s almost shaking from the cold, and glares around the room. Steph props herself against the counter next to her and, before she can second-guess herself, wraps an arm around Courtney.

“We’ll find it,” she promises. “We’re friggin’ professionals.”

Courtney’s shoulders shake, this time from a suppressed laugh, and Steph grins and presses a kiss against her temple. It’s meant to be reassuring, the same sort of casual physical affection that Steph is used to showing Cass and Tim, but Courtney goes shock-still. 

Steph leaves her arm around Courtney, but pulls away, and there’s color high in Courtney’s cheeks. The same bright red she turned when Steph made that vibrator joke earlier, which… _oh_.

“I guess it’s not here,” Courtney says, voice high and nervous, stepping out from under Steph’s arm.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Steph agrees. She doesn’t reach out for Courtney, doesn’t want to…. Doesn’t want to startle her further. “Courtney…”

“Maybe Oracle knows somewhere else to look,” Courtney says, not looking at Steph. Her eyes are firmly on one of the cryogenic chambers lining the opposite wall, despite the fact they’re all blatantly empty.

Steph doesn’t want to say, “I didn’t mean anything,” because… Courtney’s reaction means that she felt _something_ , and she’s cute and fun and brave, and Steph… Steph loves being Batgirl, but sometimes it’s so lonely it hurts. Far lonelier than being Spoiler ever was. So instead, she just bites her lip and says, “Yeah, she might.”

But as she moves past Courtney to leave Freeze’s lair, she brushes her hand deliberately against Courtney’s, meeting her eyes as she does so.

It’s as blatant as she’s going to get, and she continues on her way, ready to call Babs to find out the skinny on Freeze’s auction purchase.

And then, Courtney grabs her hand, pulls her back.

“Please don’t Bat-punch me for this,” she says before pressing her mouth against Steph’s.

She tastes like berries. Steph registers that first, followed quickly by how warm her mouth is in comparison to her goosepimpled skin. After what feels like a lifetime of being the one to surprise-kiss members of the Bat-family, Steph’s finally gotten hers.

Courtney kisses hesitantly at first, like she’s certain that Steph is going to pull away, so Steph licks into the kiss, putting one of her hands on Courtney’s hip and holding her tight against her. She worries briefly about how rough her gauntlets must feel against Courtney’s bare skin.

The kiss breaks naturally, and Courtney leans back on her own heels, cheeks pink. Steph still has a grip on her hip, can feel the smooth outline of Courtney’s belt, and doesn’t let go.

“Is it tacky to say I needed that?” Courtney says with a wry smile.

“I hope not, because I feel the same way,” Steph admits. “This uniform… it kind of keeps people away.” She pauses. “Some people, anyway. Ones that used to matter.”

Courtney reaches out and traces the bat on Steph’s chest lightly. “Just the uniform?”

“No,” Steph says quietly. “A lot of things, but it’s easiest to pretend like it’s the new duds instead of same old me.”

“My situation’s different,” Courtney says, fingertips still resting on Steph’s chest, “but not really.”

Tim would have puzzled over that comment, Steph knows. And Cass would have demanded an explanation. But Steph’s different from them, and she understands some of Courtney’s unspoken words, the ones that hint at some of the things that bother Steph herself the most, the way that the life drives you into isolation at times, and how hard that can be when you’re made to be social.

So she just lifts Courtney’s hand up and presses a kiss to her fingertips, and says, “Come on. Let’s find your rod.”

*

Once outside, Steph clicked on her comm. “Hey, O?”

“How’s your adventure going?” Babs doesn’t sound mad, just… oddly nostalgic. Steph thinks for the first time that maybe the Birds were one of the ways that Babs dealt with losing one of the most fun aspects of the costume life. Teaming up was hard when you were hidden away on the other side of screens and waves.

“Hit a bit of a dead end. What’s the latest intel on Freeze?”

“Not a whole lot going on there,” Babs says. Steph shakes her head at Courtney. “What are you chasing after him for?”

“Any details on him visiting Star City lately?”

“The auction there?” Babs pauses, and Steph waits on her to pull up the necessary information. “Looks like he was there. Bought one thing, and… got it shipped to Gotham.”

“Wait, he didn’t bring it back himself?” 

Courtney’s eyes are wide and hopeful.

“Nope. But… Oh, this is too easy. There’s a tracking number on the package. It’s been delivered to a P.O. box at North Second Street. Though of course you would never do something like interfere with the mail.”

“Never ever,” Steph tells Babs brightly before cutting the connection. 

“Oracle found it?”

“Oracle found it,” Steph confirms. Courtney lets out a cheer. “Looks like we get to liberate your cosmic rod from the postal system.”

If Courtney has any qualms about committing a misdemeanor in the name of justice, she doesn’t bring it up as they race the two blocks to the post office, laughing and playing a grounded version of rooftop tag. Steph throws in extra cartwheels and flips, and Courtney starts to do the same, and by the time they’re outside the post office they’re both breathing heavily and grinning.

It’s after hours, so Steph leads Courtney around back to the loading dock. 

“Know how to pick a lock?” she asks, and when Courtney answers, “Not really…” Steph shows her how. She guides Courtney’s hand, showing her how to twist the lockpick just right, and wonders the whole time about what Courtney’s skin feels like without her gauntlets in the way.

Once inside, it takes approximately four seconds to find the cosmic rod. It’s wrapped up in brown shipping paper, its shape not even remotely disguised. 

Courtney picks it up, a grin overtaking her face. “This reminds me of the time Starman gave me my own costume for my birthday.”

“And I thought Robin was terrible with gifts.” Steph high fives Courtney. “We found it and we didn’t even have to kick anyone’s butt in the process.”

Courtney motions towards the bruise on her jaw, but Steph shrugs. “That barely counts. There weren’t any ultimatums or cheesy lines about holding your power hostage.”

“True enough,” Courtney says, unwrapping the rod. “Want to come with me on a test run?”

“Test run?” Steph can’t remember what the cosmic rod actually does, which is probably a sign she actually needs to do some of that reading on other heroes that Babs keeps suggesting to her. 

“Test fly, rather,” Courtney amends. She leads the way out of the post office and, once outside, sits on the rod like a lady riding sidesaddle. She motions for Steph to slide on next to her, and after only the briefest hesitation, Steph joins her, lacing her fingers in with Courtney’s as the cosmic rod powers up and lifts them off the ground.

Flying, as it turns out, is amazing. It’s scarier than swinging through the city on ziplines, though at the same time, it feels strangely more secure, like the cosmic rod itself is working to keep them safe and aloft. 

Steph whoops as they swoop through the air, Courtney beaming as she executes hairpin turns and sharp, sudden inversions. It feels like they’ve only been in the air moments when Courtney finally lowers them back down on a rooftop, and Steph is hesitant to climb off the cosmic rod.

“I guess I have to go,” Courtney says reluctantly.

“You can come back,” Steph blurts out. “I mean. You don’t have to have permission. And I’d, you know. Like that.”

Courtney carefully sets the cosmic rod down before flinging her arms around Steph’s shoulders and saying softly into her ear, “I’d like that too.”


End file.
